The present invention provides an isolated, standard microflora suitable for the repeatable and consistent production of uncooked stinky tofu (Chaw-Tofu), a aromatic (stinky) fermentation brine composition for producing uncooked stinky tofu suitable for the growth of the microflora, and the method for producing uncooked stinky tofu by using the microflora and aromatic fermentation brine composition.
Stinky tofu is a special fermented food product found in Taiwan, amongst other places. Stinky tofu is considered by many Chinese to be a particularly flavorful and delicious dish. The conventional stinky tofu is produced through an open fermentation process which comprises curing ingredients such as vegetables and shrimp etc. by salt in the natural environment; allowing the putrefaction of the ingredients, and thus obtain a stinky brine (the aromatic fermentation liquid for stinky tofu); immersing and fermenting tofu (ie. soybean curd) in the stinky brine for 4-6 hours; and recovering said tofu from brine (Su, Y. C. Traditional fermented foods in Taiwan, In Proceedings of the Oriental Fermented Foods, p.15, Food Industry Research and development Institute, Taiwan, Hsinchu, 1980). The fermented stinky tofu, usually cut into squares, is then cooked prior to consumption.
Stinky tofu is obtained by an alkaline fermentation. During the fermentation process, microorganisms are able to hydrolyze proteins to amino acids and peptides, accompanied by the release of ammonia and a subsequent increase of pH of the fermenting mixture. The main microorganism responsible for the alkaline fermentation are Bacillus sp. Most of the microorganisms are capable of secreting extracellular enzymes to hydrolyze proteins to amino acids and peptides and release ammonia during the fermentation (Wang, J. and Fung, D.Y.C., Alkaline-fermented foods: a review with emphasis on pidan fermentation. Crit. Rev. Microbial. 22:101, 1996).
The strains of microorganisms conventionally used for fermentation of stinky tofu are mainly from the stinky brine, which is inoculated by chance from the environment and ingredients. Therefore, the quality, and consistency of product is not predictable; for example, the flavor of the product is varied depending on each batch of the brine, even if the brine is made comprising the same ingredients. In addition, in the conventional production of stinky brine, the ingredients are only roughly cut, then mixed, and thus not easily degraded by the microorganisms. Thus, the growth of the microorganisms is slow. In general, it takes more than six months to complete the fermentation process to produce stinky brine. Owing to the conventional use of open fermentation, the odor produced in the fermentation attracts insects, which then gather and lay eggs in the fermenting mixture. Thus, using conventional methods sanitation is very poor. A variety of pathogenic fungal infectious agents harmful to human health could also easily contaminate the fermenting mixture. Thus, it would be most useful to develop a sanitary method for producing uncooked stinky tofu, that is repeatable and produces consistent quality of product, as well as allows for improved food safety and product handling.
One objective of the invention is to provide an isolated standardized microflora suitable for the repeatable and consistent production of uncooked stinky tofu. Such standardized microflora is isolated from the environment and characterized for desired fermentation of brine. The standardized microflora allows for the production of uncooked stinky tofu having good flavor and sanitation.
The invention thus provides for a standardized microflora which is identified as A2 and mainly comprises Bacillus sp., Enterococcus sp. and Lactobacillus sp.
The invention thus further encompasses an isolated microflora suitable for making stinky brine for use in the production of stinky tofu, where said microflora comprises the species of microorganism found in the A2 microbial group, which include Bacillus sphaericus, Enterococcus gallinarum, Corynebacterium sp., E. faecium, Lactobacillus pentosus, L. fermentum and L. casei. 
The invention also provides for a standardized microflora identified as S3 which mainly comprises Bacillus sp. and Enterococcus sp.
Thus the invention further encompasses an isolated microflora suitable for making stinky brine for the production of stinky tofu, where said microflora comprises the species of microorganism found in the S3 microflora group, including Bacillus sphaericus, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus casselifavus and Enterococcus durans. 
An additional objective of the invention is to provide a standardized brine mixture for use in producing uncooked stinky tofu, such brine being particularly suitable for the efficient growth of the standardized isolated microflora of the invention, and methods for the preparation of such brine. The present invention also encompasses the specific aromatic fermented (stinky) brine produced by fermenting the standardized brine mixture of the invention with the appropriate isolated standardized microflora of the invention.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a method for producing uncooked stinky tofu which utilizes said microflora and brine mixture composition. The uncooked stinky tofu can be used for the production of the edible stinky tofu by cooking process methods such as steaming, cooking, frying and stewing with soy sauce.
One object of the invention is to provide an isolated standard microflora suitable for the production of stinky tofu.
Lai, et al. has studied the production of stinky tofu and the general screening of microorganisms for brewing stinky tofu based on the capability of hydrolyzing protein (Lai, M. N., Production of Chaw-Tofu, Food Industry 9:3 pp.25-26, 1997). The bacteria capable of hydrolyzing protein are isolated from conventional stinky brines wherein the most common of the microorganisms strains are B. megaterium, B. polymyxa, B. pumilus and B. subtilis, in which the later two strains are the major strains for fermentation (Lee, S. F., Wang, C. B., and Chang, P. P., The Isolation and Identification of Protein hydrolyzing Bacteria from Chaw-Tofu, Food Science 23:1, 1996).
However, it was found that the fermentation of the brine using only a single strain of microorganism was not good, and did not yield satisfactory results. Accordingly, the present invention teaches an isolated standard microflora comprising at least two microorganisms, for fermentation, said microflora being isolated and standardized by screening and identification from stinky brine produced by conventional methods. This microflora comprises more than one bacterial species which is able to withstand freezing using standard microbiology methods. It was found that two isolated and standardized microflorae, named the A2 microbial group and S3 microbial group, were suitable for making consistent quality product.
The microflora of the invention were isolated and standardized by collecting stinky brine samples produced by conventional means from various places in Taiwan, diluting and plating the collected stinky brine samples with a stinky odor, and selecting the desired microflora. It was found that the A2 microbial group mainly comprises Bacillus sp., Enterococcus sp. and Lactobacillus sp. and the S3 microbial group mainly comprises Bacillus sp. and Enterococcus sp. Particular species found in the A2 microbial group include Bacillus sphaericus, Enterococcus gallinarum, Corynebacterium sp., E. faecium, Lactobacillus pentosus, L. fermentum and L. casei. Particular species found in the S3 microbial group include Bacillus sphaericus, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus casselifavus and Enterococcus durans. 
One method for the identification of the microflora was conducted by the Microbial Identification System (Miller, L. and Berger, J. Bacteria Identification by Gas Chromatography of Whole Cell Fatty Acids, HP Application Note 288:41, 1985). According to the standard operation steps and analysis methods, the fatty acid methylated esters (FAMES) are prepared by collecting bacterial cells, saponification, methylation, extraction and washing with an alkaline solution. The resulting FAMES are analyzed with a Hewlett-Packard model HP 5890A gas chromatography which was equipped with a capillary column, a flame ionization detector, a 7673B automatic sampler, and a 3396B Integrater. Identification of the FAME fingerprints of isolates were performed using the MIDI database.
The A2 microbial group mainly comprises Bacillus sphaericus, Enterococcus sp. and Lactobacillus sp., and frozen samples of the isolated standard A2 microflora was deposited on Dec. 8, 1998 with China Center For Type Culture Collection (CCTCC; Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 P.R. China) under the Budapest Treaty and assigned accession number M98023. The S3 group mainly comprises Bacillus sphaericus, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus casseliflavus and Enterococcus durans, and frozen samples of the isolated standard S3 microflora was deposited on Dec. 8, 1998 with the China Center For Type Culture Collection (CCTCC; Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072 P.R. China) under the Budapest Treaty and given accession number M98024.
A further aspect of the invention provides particular brine compositions, different from that of conventional methods, in having particular ingredients and ratios thereof, suitable for the growth of the microflora of the invention to produce uncooked stinky tofu. In particular, the invention provides for a brine composition particularly suitable for the fermentation of the A2 microbial group microflora, and a brine composition particularly suitable for the fermentation of S3 microbial group microflora.
A standardized brine mixture composition suitable for the fermentation of the microflora of the invention comprises cabbage or amaranth, bamboo, tofu, and salt in water. A preferred brine mixture composition suitable for the fermentation of A2 microflora comprises cabbage or amaranth, bamboo, shrimp, tofu and salt.
A brine composition particularly suitable for the fermentation of A2 microbial group preferably comprises cabbage or amaranth, bamboo, about 20-40% (w/v) tofu, about 2.5-10% (w/v) shrimp and salt. A brine composition particularly suitable for the fermentation of S3 microbial group preferably includes cabbage or amaranth, bamboo, about 30-50% (w/v) tofu and salt, but no shrimp.
A brine composition suitable for the fermentation of A2 group more preferably comprises about 20-40%(w/v) cabbage or amaranth, 10-30%(w/v) bamboo, 30% (w/v) tofu, 5% (w/v) shrimp and 0.5-1.5% (w/v) salt. A brine composition suitable for the fermentation of S3 group more preferably comprises about 20-40% (w/v) cabbage or amaranth, 10-30% (w/v) bamboo, 40% (w/v) tofu and 0.5-2% (w/v) salt. Fermentation of A2 microflora can take place in brine mixtures without shrimp.
According to the invention, the fermented aromatic stinky brine product, which is obtained from the fermentation of the particular brine ingredient mixture composition suitable for the fermentation of a microflora, by inoculation with the standard isolated microflora, can then be used to produce uncooked stinky tofu. Thus, the aromatic fermented stinky brine, which is obtained from the fermentation of the particular brine ingredient composition suitable for the fermentation of A2 or S3 microflora, by inoculation with the standard isolated A2 or S3 microflora, is used to produce uncooked stinky tofu.
Unsatisfactory results were obtained for visual, feel, smell and taste sensory preference evaluation of stinky tofu produced from stinky brine product of inoculating S3 microflora to brine ingredient mixture composition suitable for the fermentation of A2 microbial group which contain shrimp. Thus it was determined that S3 microflora is not particularly suitable for fermentation of brine composition containing shrimp.
The method of the invention for preparing stinky brine useful for the production of uncooked stinky tofu encompasses direct inoculation of the recovered frozen, or freeze-dried microflora to the brine ingredients, or inoculation of the brine ingredients after the growth of the microflora on a plate or suspension culture in suitable media, where such microflora are prepared using standard microbiology techniques for handling frozen or otherwise preserved viable samples. The methods encompass the use of a brine mixture which is first sterilized before inoculation with the microflora. The invention also encompasses fermentation in a closed style fermentation system to produce the fermented aromatic stinky brine.
The invention also provides a method for preparing uncooked stinky tofu, which uses the microflora and the brine composition of the invention. A method of the invention comprises pouring tofu (preferably cut in squares) into the fermented stinky brine produced from the microflora and brine composition of the invention; and immersing the tofu for about 0.5-12 hours, and preferably about 4-8 hours, at room temperature. The resulting uncooked stinky tofu should be washed with fresh water. The uncooked stinky tofu of the invention is suitable for the production of edible stinky tofu by such cooking methods as steaming, cooking, frying and stewing steps, preferably with soy sauce and hot sauce or pickles.